SPOKANE — President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address on Thursday may have been the most consequential of his term, and Northwest lawmakers believe it highlighted exactly why — or why not — he should serve another four years.
Biden touched on a number of issues that likely will be consequential to voters in the upcoming election, including the Jan. 6 insurrection, the war in Gaza, immigration, the post-pandemic economy, reproductive rights, tax increases for corporations and the wealthy, and affordable housing.
The implications of the address, during what is expected to be a hotly contested race for the White House, were all too clear.
Biden touted his successes over the past three years and illustrated the stark contrasts between himself and former President Donald Trump, his expected opponent on the November ballot. Cheers of “Four more years” broke out throughout the speech, as did jeers from Biden’s critics.
Like last year, the president sparred with Republican lawmakers in the audience over hot-button issues, like the bipartisan immigration reform torpedoed by Republicans after pressure from Trump.
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a written statement that Biden gave an “optimistic” view of his performance as president “that ignores reality and the struggles Americans confront.”
“On more than one occasion, his words lacked accountability, shirking responsibility onto others to make up for his own failed actions,” Crapo said. “In reality, the state of our border, economy and national security are worse off today under President Biden.”
Fellow Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch said in a written statement that he thinks Trump did a much better job of addressing immigration during his term. He called on Biden to reinstate Trump’s executive orders on immigration.
“In tonight’s speech, President Biden doubled down on his open border policy and again tried to blame Congress,” Risch said. “Congress did its job many years ago when it passed the law prohibiting anyone from entering America illegally. That remains the law today — we don’t need more laws, just enforcement of the current law.”
Washington Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, had a mixed reaction to Biden’s remarks on immigration. Immigration is a key area of focus for Newhouse, who recently led a group of a dozen Republicans from the Congressional Western Caucus on a visit to the southern border.
“I think he made some valid points on the immigration issue, but I don’t think he pointed out what he could do, in his power, on the issue,” Newhouse said.
Newhouse said he believes that Biden’s tone was intended to show his vitality as the 81-year-old continues to face criticism over his capability of serving another four years. Newhouse thought Biden came across more angry than energetic and described the address more as a campaign speech than a State of the Union address.
“It seemed like he was doing too much,” Newhouse said. “A lot of the tone of the speech, I didn’t think it was unifying by any means.
“But I thought he had a good ending, when he talked about the better days America has to look forward to.”
Rep. Kim Schrier, a Democrat from Washington’s 8th District, which includes eastern King County, Wenatchee and Ellensburg, disagreed with Newhouse on the tone.
She said Biden did a great job of showing his energy, highlighting what he has been able to accomplish during his term and laying out why he should serve another.
“I think he’s got a record to run on that is enviable, and that speaks more than anything else about why he is capable of running this country,” Schrier said.
Schrier said she thought it was important that Biden highlighted the threats to democracy both abroad and within the U.S. borders, whether it be the rise of authoritarianism, conflict in Gaza and Ukraine or strained international relations.
She said Biden gave a strong vision for the future of the country by addressing the economy and anxieties surrounding it, continuing infrastructure improvements, supporting families and reinstating reproductive rights, in particular.
“I think that meant so much, not just to the women, but to the men who love women, because it matters for everyone,” Schrier said.
Biden promised to do everything in his power to protect abortion access across the country. The fight over reproductive rights continues to play out at the state level since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who’s long supported abortion rights, said before the address that she wanted Biden to take a firm stance on the issue.
“I expect him to strongly support women and men in this country to make their own public health care choices,” Murray said Thursday morning.
Abortion bans are in effect in 14 states, including in neighboring Idaho, where Murray’s State of the Union guest Kayla Smith was directly affected by the nearly outright prohibition on abortions.
She’s now a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state of Idaho and several elected leaders who enacted the ban.
Smith and her husband learned their son had “several fatal fetal anomalies,” including an inoperable heart defect, during an ultrasound taken during her 18th week of pregnancy. The couple received the news just two days before Idaho’s ban went into effect, Smith said.
Further complicating things was Smith’s preeclampsia she developed during her pregnancy with her first child, making the second pregnancy high risk.
Smith said she and her husband decided to end the pregnancy to prevent her son from suffering and to protect her own health.
“It was just devastating, because like I said, this was a very wanted pregnancy for us,” Smith said. “And I didn’t necessarily want an abortion. I needed one.”
A few weeks later, Smith left her home in Nampa, Idaho, traveled eight hours to the University of Washington Medical Center and ended the pregnancy via early induction. The procedure and trip cost the family thousands, she said.
“What’s going on with these bans really is insult to injury during a time that my husband and I were devastated,” Smith said. “Again, like I just want to reiterate, this was not something that we wanted to do. It was something we felt that we had to do, and our hands were tied, our physicians’ hands were tied.”
Smith now lives in Olympia with her husband, her 3-year-old daughter and her infant daughter who was born just a few months ago.
“Everyone in America needs to know what happened to Kayla, and they need to understand that if Republicans succeed in passing a national abortion ban, what happened to Kayla in Idaho can happen to women in any state, including ours here in Washington,” Murray said. “So I’m not gonna stop talking about abortion and making sure people are paying attention.”
Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said in a written statement that her last State of the Union address as a congresswoman fell flat with Eastern Washington voters.
She echoed her Republican colleagues’ concerns over Biden’s immigration policies and said she was “disappointed by the so-called solutions” Biden proposed for the challenges facing the country.
“He failed to address how his economic agenda continues to crush families with prices rising everywhere from the gas pump to the grocery store,” McMorris Rodgers’ statement said. “He doubled down on his efforts to shut down American energy production and jobs in pursuit of a rush-to-green agenda that is making us dangerously dependent on foreign adversaries. He also tried to pass the blame on the historic crisis he created at our southern border, which has turned every city into a border town, as fentanyl and other illicit drugs flood our streets.”
For Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, Biden illustrated how the country can move forward toward a brighter future. In a written statement, she highlighted his successes in infrastructure improvements, investments in tech research and manufacturing and efforts to improve the American economy.
“Biden made clear tonight how to keep investing in America’s future,” her statement said, noting the president’s push to boost affordable housing and training to help people find better jobs.
